Burn
by StarDustFox
Summary: The fire had killed many and the body count was shocking, but hers wasn't amongst them. He saw her walk into the flames that night, but she didn't walk back out. Now nearly ten years later he's returning to try and find evidence of her death, but what he finds isn't at all what he expected. There's more to it then mysterious fires and tragic deaths, someone is out for blood.
1. Into The Forest

**Author's Note: **

**Hi! Welcome to my first story on FanFiction! I hope you all enjoy it and I'll try to update it as often as I can, I promise!**

 **Also in this story the chipmunks/chipettes are in any style you choose though I'll be imaging them in anthro-like style, so around human size and everything.**

 **I hope you like!**

* * *

Ever since that night she hasn't felt the same, she knows she isn't right, not anymore.

No one knew how the fire had started, it had rained plenty of times that month, so how could the entire forest suddenly be engulfed in flames? How did no one notice the billowing clouds of black crawling towards the town till it was too late?

And why had she been drawn into those flames?

These questions torment her now, they're all she has these days, her memories are worse than her nagging thoughts so she keeps them buried deep inside where not even the flames can reach.

The questions are all she has.

The town is empty, the houses are black eggshells of their former selves and as she walks through the charred living room of one of her neighbors she avoids touching the ash speckled faces peering at her from the glass frames of their photographs.

She knows that the husband made it, as did the son, but the mother and baby…heat prickles along her arms, inching it's way up to her shoulders and along the column of her throat to trickle down her cheeks in molten tears.

Emotions always bring the flames back.

Raising her stinging arms she swipes at the glowing embers flecking her face, anger fueling her actions she claws at her cheeks, fear and sorrow burn through her like lava and the flames continue their trail down her face.

She's a monster.

* * *

"Alvin I don't think we should be back here, you know this place is dangerous," Simon adjusts the backpack slung across his back, the chocolate furred munk stares intently at his older brother's back as the three of them hike along the old path.

Alvin suggested they go hiking today…..but he didn't say to where.

"I don't want to go back to that place…..it's sad," The youngest of the three brings up the rear, dragging his feet along the worn pathway he keeps his green gaze downward.

"Guys, we grew up there, don't you want to just…go back for a minute? No one has been back to the village since the fire, it's stupid," Alvin casts his annoyed glare back at the two complaining munks behind him, ears twitching, "It's our home, sure there was a fire but it's not like the fire is still there, we'll be fine,"

Simon rolls his eyes skyward, the dark blue hue flashing behind the lenses of his glasses, "If we inhale a lot of ash it'll be dangerous, plus all the homes are probably delicate and unstable, we could be crushed by a beam if we walk through town,"

"W-we're going to get crushed?!" Theodore's head snaps up and he latches onto Simon's arm, squeezing his elder brother's appendage to the point of pain, Simon struggles for a moment.

"Simon is just being a party pooper, besides we're well old enough to know how to avoid falling beams," Alvin adjusts his own bag as he flashes a grin at the trembling munk, making his already frightened doe green eyes widen further.

"A-Alvin don't!" Theodore stalls, hugging Simon's arm tight as he shakes lightly with fear.

"Great look what you did…it's ok Theo, Alvin is just being a jerk, and I was just trying to get him to turn around. There won't be any falling beams or any danger I promise," Simon rests his hand on top of the blonde munk's head, ruffling his short hair between his ears till he finally releases his arm.

They look up to follow Alvin only to find empty trail before them.

Simon grits his teeth and rubs at his nose, "ALVIN!"

* * *

He races along the overgrown path, a wide grin stretched across his face as the cool evening air whips at his cheeks, chasing away the heat of the day that had been clinging to him along their hike.

He had forgotten how far out the old town was, but next time he'll be prepared for the long trek.

His bare feet pound against the fresh earth and he inhales deeply, nothing like being out in the middle of a forest in the middle of summer, everything is so fresh and vibrant and…..dead.

Alvin slows as the soft thriving earth suddenly turns to ash beneath his toes, the air turns stale and he coughs as ash fills his mouth and nose.

It's been ten years…and the forest hasn't grown back?!

He stares out across the expanse of gray earth, broken black skeletons of once strong trees burst out of the ruined dirt like frantic fingers searching for something.

The fear trickles in slowly as he sees a single standing wall of one of the old houses, most of it's four walls have caved in, the roof slopes downward and inward, shingles are sprinkled across the ash and the faint trace of fence posts reminds him that there had once been a bright blue fence surrounding a little vegetable garden.

Alvin crosses the barren land carefully, his footfalls crunching faintly around him as he passes the gray home, he can feel concrete and asphalt beneath the carpeting of ash, he follows the old sidewalk along rows of decaying homes.

He was eight when the fire reached them.

No one even knew it was coming, he had been outside making mud pies with a girl…a friend he had grown up with, he didn't know it at the time but he was crushing on her, hard. And it took only a year after learning that her body hadn't been found that he had liked her, might've grown to love her too, if she hadn't walked into the flames.

"Alvin?!" He jerks his gaze away from the vacant lot of ash, annoyance replacing the sorrow creasing between his eyes.

"I'm right here, jeez you don't have to yell," He kicks up some ash, it was all in the past, he shouldn't feel so strongly about it all, it's been ten years.

"It's hard huh? A lot of our neighbors and friends didn't make it….." Simon walks towards him slowly, Theodore at his side, gazes at the half standing structures around them.

"Yeah I know, I was there," Alvin turns away from them to focus back on the black forest, his brothers had been lucky, their parents had to take them to the doctors to get their shots that day and they had left Alvin behind with their close friends and neighbors while they went into the city.

Alvin was glad his brothers didn't have to hear it, to see it all…..but in a way he was also envious, he wished they had witnessed it with him, so he didn't have to suffer alone with the images, the nightmares, the terror.

"Hey," He flinches at the paw that clamps down on his shoulder, "What? Get off!" Alvin tries to jerk his arm away but Simon clings to him, fingers trembling.

"W-what's that?"

Alvin frowns and looks away from the forest, towards one of the only fully standing homes left, where a girl stands staring at them from the second story window.

* * *

 **It's probably a bit confusing right now but as the story progresses it'll begin to make more sense. This is kind of the introduction and it is the first chapter so there's still a lot more to come!**

 **If you liked or want more let me know with a review, follow, favorite, mostly a review cause I'd love to see your reactions and thoughts :D**

 **Thanks again for coming to read my first story**


	2. She's An Inferno

**Author's Note:**

 **Thank you guys for the followers, favorites and reviews! I hope you continue to enjoy my story and let me know if you have any questions or suggestions!**

* * *

No one is supposed to come back…Brittany stares down at the three munks from the sanctuary of her old home, fear bubbling up within her as she realizes too late that she's been spotted.

The one with gold eyes and the red shirt bolts for the front door, disappearing quickly from her view she hears the front door open and slam against the wall.

She turns around quickly and races out of the room, making a beeline for the stairs she prays she's fast enough, if she can just get down the stairs she can slip by and go out the back do-

She rams headfirst into a solid body, the impact sends her falling back onto her tail and she flinches, smothering the pain quickly for fear the fire burning in her core might show through.

"I knew it!"

Brittany's head whips up and she scoots back swiftly, eyes wide in terror as the munk stands in front of her gasping for air, his eyes glowing, "I knew it was you,"

Her heart stalls for a moment and she feels the swell of fear again, the flames burn just beneath her skin and she swallows back a nervous torrent of lava, "I-I don't know…..what you're talking about," Her voice sounds odd to her ears.

She hasn't spoken to another person for a long time….."Please leave,"

The munk frowns, having caught his breath he takes a step towards her, his frame towering over her as she remains sitting on the floor, he tilts his head as he leans down onto one knee to meet her gaze straight on.

"Brittany,"

Her breath hitches in her throat and she feels the familiar burn of tears threatening to spill over, averting her gaze she shields her face with her auburn bangs and lifts her arm up to snuff out the molten liquid inching down her cheeks.

She hears him exhale and the soft creak of the blackened floor lets her know he's sat down across from her and she flinches as she feels his hand lightly touch her exposed knee.

It's strange how cool his fingertips are, she feels her own fingers twitch as she has the sudden urge to gasp his hand, to feel his pulse beneath his skin, so different from hers now.

"Alvin! It's dangerous…did you go upstairs?!" She scrambles back, escaping his touch as she manages to get to her feet.

He won't let her go though, and she tries not to slap his hand away as it suddenly closes around hers.

"Alvin I told you it's probably just…dust….." His brothers step up onto the second floor, both of them gazing at her with eyes as big as a doe's and she tries to remember that she's not currently on fire…they just didn't expect her to be here…..yeah she's not on fire.

Yet.

"Does she look like dust to you?" Alvin turns to his brothers, tugging her closer as he looks to them with a bright smile, she feels his pulse quicken and feels the warmth of his blood, she swallows and tightens her grip slightly, trying to ignore the sounds drumming in her ears.

Then she remembers, "You can't be here, please go," She steps forward, this time she tugs him along but only for a moment before he stops, halting their movement.

"H-how are you still alive? Why are you here?"

Brittany chews on her lip, they need to leave….they can't stay. "C-Can you please go? Why did you come back? Why did you-"

The house rattles softly, the old burnt wood groaning from the movement as she feels the fire within her suddenly burst, turning into an inferno that spreads through her veins swiftly she quickly releases Alvin's paw but it's too late.

He hisses in pain and clutches his hand tightly, eyes wide as he flexes his burning fingertips he looks up to her face in alarm.

"I told you! You need to GO!" The house quakes again, the beams trembling as dust and ash rain down from the ceiling, the brothers look to her in terror and confusion.

She remembers them, even though she's tried so hard to ignore those memories, she knows them and she doesn't want them to suffer like she has.

"You need to stay close to me…..please," Brittany steps back, moving towards the stairs as she feels the fire travel up her spine to settle in the roots of her hair, she tries to ignore their alarmed expressions, her hair must be glowing. She feels annoyance prickle within the fire and she rolls her eyes, "If we live I'll explain what happened, now can we please go?"

Alvin shrugs and steps forward, "I expected something weird had happened to our town,"

Brittany blows out a breath, "You have no idea,"

* * *

The earth hasn't stopped shivering, it's like something is raking it's fingers along the soil beneath their feet, as if tickling the ground and making it quiver.

This has to be the strangest earthquake ever.

Alvin races after his childhood friend, still trying to process the fact that she's GLOWING. He had expected to find her body after all these years or maybe even find her camping out in the woods living off grass and bugs…..but not this.

Not this frightened lightning bug that's leaving smoking footprints in the ash, he couldn't even begin to imagine what has made her like this.

"I'm dreaming, I have to be dreaming," He glances over his shoulder and shakes his head, Simon is rambling to himself as he pulls Theodore along, their youngest brother keeps glancing back, as if he expects something to burst out from the ground and devour them.

Alvin turns back around and rolls his eyes….only to see that Brittany has stopped dead in her tracks, and the earth is opening up.

"W-what the hell?" Alvin skids to a stop, letting out an annoyed grunt as his siblings ram into his back, he quickly glances at them and also scans the ground behind them too, making sure that the ground isn't splitting open behind them.

"Shit….." Brittany holds her arms out to her side, herding them back as if they were children, she's shorter than him so she doesn't exactly block out the view of what is hauling it's huge ass out of the earth.

When he was younger he never believed all those myths and stories about demons, gods, and creatures that go bump in the night…he didn't pay attention to the stories but now he wishes he did.

But he knows for certain that the huge black mass of muscle crawling out of the ground is a hound of some sort, a Hell Hound if he remembers correctly.

Smoke and steam raises off it's coal black coat, and as it lifts it's stout squashed face he can see the molten lava rippling through it's eyes and beneath it's short fur, as it opens it mouth the hot liquid seeps out onto the earth like drool.

Brittany steps forward, breaking away from them as her glowing hair suddenly bursts into flames, and then her entire body is suddenly consumed by the raging hot fire.

Alvin bites back a scream of horror as he remembers ten years ago the little girl who had been consumed by the terrifying fire, and now as he watches…he realizes she was the fire.

The hound's screeching howl tears his attention away from the flaming girl, the massive creature now stands firmly on the ash, it's long tail is nothing but bones and flames and it sweeps across the old remains of homes and gardens, kicking up black smoke and lighting small patches of ash on fire.

It's about the size of an elephant and it towers over the small flaming figure of the chipette, they're all going to die….fire can't beat fire…right?

Simon shields Theodore from the sight as best he can, the two of them try to pull Alvin back, "We need to get back! We need to go!"

Alvin feels anger flare within him as the hound suddenly swipes it's massive paw downward, slamming into a solid wall of fire and heat, "I'm not leaving her again!"

* * *

Shit.

She pushes back against the paw of ash and coal, letting her fire burn hotter she steps even closer to the beast, the pressure of her flames push it back a step and it flinches as some it's paw is burned.

So he was right….her fire does consume everything in it's path.

Even other fire elementals.

"Go back!" She screams, letting her anger burn brighter she feels the fire burst forward, eating away at the fire demon as if it were made of dry branches instead of molten lava and old dead fire.

She'll kill it, she'll push it back into the hole it crawled out of.

Her veins throb painfully and she feels her skin prickle as the fire burns hotter, brighter…higher, it grows around her, whipping wildly it lashes at the air and hungrily consumes anything it can reach.

She feels her lungs tighten slightly before expanding rapidly, filling up, and up, and up with oxygen until she realizes…her fire is sucking up all the oxygen around them.

Then she remembers the brothers.

Brittany falls to her knees, the fire whipping back into her sharply, sucked back down into her core as she gasps loudly, choking on air as she heaves.

Lava pools around her as she vomits and she feels her body quake painfully as her aching body slowly cools off….she lifts her head slowly…the hound is long gone…..everything in front of her is gone too…..

She looks behind her sharply, fear squeezing down around her fire as she imagines burnt bodies…imagines them crying out in pain and agony from their burns….

"Shit Brittany!" She flinches as Alvin yanks her away from the lava, squeezing her tightly and she remembers faintly that she's still smoking and extremely hot to the touch.

Pushing against his chest she tries to escape his grasp but he doesn't budge, "You're burning yourself let go!" She cries struggling some more before slowly going limp in his hold.

"You'll tell us everything now…..right?"

She closes her eyes, leaning against her old friend as she exhales a cloud of smoke, "Yes,"

* * *

He has to admit it, his body hurts like hell, but he isn't going to let her see it.

Brittany wolfs down their puny rations of granola bars and trail mix, she barely even opens anything before stuffing her face.

She's changed, a lot.

"I still can't believe that just happened….that hound, it was a Hell Hound right?" Simon twists a handkerchief around and around, a sign that he's scared and confused….uncertain.

Theodore hasn't spoken a single word since the event and Alvin feels worry gnaw at his gut, but then he speaks up, "That was….crazy! How did you do that?" Theodore's eyes are wide and he gazes at her with awed pools of green.

Brittany pauses in her feast and wipes her mouth clean, "It's strange, and a tad confusing but I'll try to explain. Um…..so I guess I should start from the beginning…..our town isn't normal. The people born here aren't normal either, well some aren't, most are I guess. There's these beings known as Elementals that are rarely ever born…..and most of the time if they do appear they're instantly slain," She pauses as her gaze drifts back to the street.

"You can see why,"

"B-but you saved us," Theodore frowns, confusion crossing his face as he looks to his older brothers for an answer, but neither of them say anything.

"Most of us aren't nice," Brittany manages a weak smile, "That Hound…is a Severe Elemental, a creature who is made up of an element but is also combined with dark energy, a demon, most people classify them under that term. A lot of us are weak to dark energy and when that happens we're hunted down and sent somewhere else…I'm not sure if it's Hell, they don't tell us that,"

"You keep saying 'us'….why?" Simon speaks up, cutting her off as he shuffles slightly.

"Like I said our town isn't normal, there were other kids like me able to control elements, most escaped but…..I-I was caught, there's these…things, out there, who want to capture Elementals, to control us and use us as weapons of mass destruction. For some reason these people, creatures, whatever they are, are able to produce this frequency that only we can hear, and they use this sound to control us, like some twisted mind control," She pauses, picking at the threads of her sleeve.

Alvin looks to his brothers, it's hard to believe…that any of this is real…..but what he just saw, what they all just saw, is proof enough.

"Why did you stay here?" She looks to him, meeting his gaze straight on he feels his chest tighten slightly as her familiar azure eyes search his.

"To protect you and your brothers….they think you're Elementals,"

* * *

 **I know it's a tad confusing but I tried to explain it as best I can hehe. I hope this part made sense and sorry for my lame attempt at some combat, it's a lot to explain and I'm not that good at it just yet.**

 **If you have any questions feel free to PM me or post a review, comments and suggestions are welcome as well!**

 **Also I apologize for all the skips...should I stick to just one character or is everyone ok with me switching around like that? Let me know please :)**

 **Thank you for reading, I hope to be posting another chapter soon.**


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